Description

1948 Babe Ruth Signed Baseball with Hank Aaron (Later Signing),
PSA/DNA NM-MT 8. The two most revered long ball artists in the
game's history. Ruth's sweet spot signature has been designated an
8/10 by the experts at PSA/DNA. Aaron's signature on the northern
panel rates a 9/10. The ball garners a 7/10 rating for the combined
grade as listed. OAL (Harridge). Full Grading LOA from PSA/DNA.
Full LOA from James Spence Authentication.

The Babe's Final Signing: A Thrilling New Find of High-Grade
Bambinos.

"It was a shock, seeing the gaunt, shrunken giant shamble into
the hotel room which had been set aside for the Babe's brief chat
with newspapermen," wrote journalist Bill Bryson in the August
17, 1948 edition of the Spencer (IA) Daily Reporter.
"Weary and weak though he was, the Babe was still a commanding
personality and, as his tortured vocal chords warmed up, he grated
out quick, witty answers to questions about baseballs' most famous
career." Every newspaper in the country, and many
internationally, ran an obituary for this titan of the sporting
world the day after his August 16th passing, but to the small town
of Spencer, Iowa, the loss took on a particularly personal
aspect.

Just two months earlier, the terminally ill Home Run King had
participated in the final public signing of his life at the Spencer
Ford dealership owned by John Hart, president of Spencer Baseball,
Inc. An advocate of youth baseball to the very end, Ruth had agreed
to visit the small Midwestern town to present a trophy to the
winning team in a Chamber of Commerce baseball tournament sponsored
by the Ford Motor Company. The Altoona Upper Des Moines
newspaper announces the royal arrival in its Tuesday, June 18, 1948
issue with the headline, "Babe Ruth In Person To Be At Spencer,
June 21st," going on to explain, "Sponsoring Ruth's only
appearance in Iowa are the American Legion, Spencer Baseball, Inc.,
the Chamber of Commerce, the Junior Chamber of Commerce, and the
Clay County Fair Association. Ruth is being brought to Iowa by the
Ford Motor Co., by whom he is employed in the interests of Junior
League Baseball."

Presented in the lots that follow are eight baseballs autographed
by Ruth during this visit, each accompanied by a letter of
provenance from a representative of the Hart family. The baseballs
have remained all but untouched in a bank's safe deposit box for
most of the six decades since their meeting with the Babe, though a
few were autographed by others decades later, including one by John
Hart himself, who mistakenly recalled the date of Ruth's visit as
July 12th when he signed and notated the ball in 1975.

The Babe would make just two more public appearances after this day
in Spencer--first at the film premier of "The Babe Ruth
Story" in Manhattan on July 26th, and then less than a month
later as he lay in state at Yankee Stadium. The stunning condition,
the ironclad provenance and the special vintage of the offered
spheres elevate them to the pinnacle of collecting appeal.